Yesterday I drove through Arkansas, which from highway 40 seemed to be an altogether unremarkable state. A few Clinton references in Little Rock, a mangled and burnt tractor trailer, and, finally, traffic moving at 80 mph were its only standout features. I did spend about 15 minutes thinking I'd killed my dog by feeding her pumpkin seeds, but it turned out to be a panic attack brought on by the noise of tractor trailer traffic.
Texas, however, is beautiful. At dusk the sky looked as though it were splitting end to end to reclaim the sun. I was surprised by how green the pastures are and how blue the sky is - like a chambray blanket falling softly over the horizon. The clouds are as still as if they've been in the same place since they were scattered by the Big Bang and the sagging roadside antiques shops are honest enough to advertise that they sell nothing more than old junk. I thought it was funny that McMansions have spread to the ranches, many of which have replaced their old farm houses with four-story, faux-brick mansions and matching stables.
Today I met Ali in Austin, where we checked into a Super 8 and walked for awhile beside the Colorado River before heading downtown for dinner and margaritas. At the restaurant we ran into a guy I know from Buffalo and watched cheerful protesters amble by with pro-life signs and happy indignance.
Quite possibly the city's best feature, at least as far as I'm concerned, is that dogs are welcome nearly everywhere with a patio. At dinner, Scout enjoyed the French fries and Ali and I enjoyed eating somewhere other than a park bench.
And then, glamorous creatures that we are, we capped off the night with a trip to Target so that Ali could get white-girl hair dye. Apparently, they've got nothing lighter than chestnut in Mexico. Can you imagine?!
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